


Cookies and Cobwebs

by xBubble_Teax



Category: the GazettE
Genre: Adorable Kai, Badass Reita, Comedy, First Crush, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Kai being a doofus, Kissing, M/M, Mild Language, POV First Person, Super cute stuff, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 16:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10948074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xBubble_Teax/pseuds/xBubble_Teax
Summary: When a bedtime bug prevents Kai from sleeping, he knows there's one neighbour he can rely on...





	Cookies and Cobwebs

*

I shivered underneath my bed covers, not turning the light off until I could muster the courage to kill the damn thing.

There it was . . . sat on my bedroom wall. Its legs spread out like some kind of deranged, evil octopus in the corner.

I didn’t care that it was on the other side of the room. And I didn’t care that it was, in fact, a long way away from me.

And now I can’t sleep!!

What if it crawls over me in the middle of the night? What if it . . . creates a large cobweb in my room?!

_For God’s sake Kai, just kill it._

It was a perfectly logical instruction from the inner walls of my subconscious mind . . . only . . .

_I can’t . . ._

I shake off the shiver crawling up my spine as I continue to watch it – looking so ugly at me with millions of eyes, a furry black body and a skinny set of legs that make me cringe just thinking about it,

“I hate spiders!!”

Reluctantly, I look to the clock sitting on my wall (inches away from the hideous bug) and realise I’m going to have to do something if I don’t want to fall asleep in my cereal and drown tomorrow morning.

I clutch my Grell plushie tighter to my chest; ready to use him as a weapon in case it decides to attack; although I’ve heard ones in Australia are worse – the average pouncing ability about ten feet or so.

I tiptoe over to the door, grimacing as I keep my eyes on it, ready to swing for the beast just in case it strikes me.

_Fucking hell . . . I never realised how big it was . . ._

I must have looked so pathetic; sidestepping my way to the bedroom door like a sissy girl.

As my cousin Ruki would say,

“ _Fuck’s sake Kai, grow some balls or am I gonna have to buy you bras for Christmas?!”_

Yes I have balls. I’m not a girl. I have balls and not boobs!!

“I have balls . . .” I mutter lowly as encouragement, “I have balls, not boobs. I have balls _not_ boobs. _Balls_ , not boobs,”

I repeat it countless times until the words don’t seem to mean anything anymore; and miraculously I manage to turn it into a tongue twister.

. . . I have boobs.

I prove it to myself as I make a break for the exit, the eight legged monstrosity having crawled its way to sit along the top of the doorframe, me squealing under my breath once I reach the other side and sprint comfortably into my upstairs hallway.

Ninjutsu skills aside, I creep my way along the landing, my breathing a heavy mess as I reach my parents’ bedroom door.

I knock tentatively, even though the loud warthog-like snores roaring from inside drown out my tentative taps completely, and I end up pushing the door open without permission.

Sure enough, the snoring gets louder, and I wish my Dad wasn’t so fat – or else I would have moved him next to the spider to scare it away; those snores were unattractively terrifying.

I pad my way across the carpet, looking over my shoulder for reasons I don’t quite understand before I stand next to the double bed, watching my Dad dribble against the pillow; my Mum’s arms wrapped around him from behind.

Eww.

I poke him gently on the shoulder, knowing he has to be up early for work tomorrow and that Mum has to go and meet some friends for early brunch, but I am in the middle of a crisis here!! I don’t mind if they shout at me a little,

“Dad?” I whisper, prodding him again only to find no response, the old man dead to the world, “Dad wake up,”

I watch him adjust his head with a small ray of hope . . . soon sinking to despair when he sighs and settles into sleep once again,

“Dad, wake up!!” I shake him harder this time, even going so far as patting his cheek, Grell’s spongy foot kicking him in the face now and again as I rattle his body harder for a response,

“Dad! Wake. Up. You. Fat. Hairy. Stinky –!”

I flinch as I see something move in the corner of my eye, and even as my Dad stays fast asleep, I jog over to my Mum’s side instead,

“Mum! Wake up there’s a spider in my room!” I whisper frantically, shaking her shoulders gently, and even she seems to be lost in a deep slumber too – not even moving an inch!!

A bite my lip, in a loss of what to do. I can’t sleep like this! Not if it’s there in my room, waiting, lurking . . . it could move anywhere and God knows what it could do to me!!

I jig up and down on the spot, glancing to my sleeping parents and then back to the landing again, wondering what the hell I should do. I’m not tall enough to reach the corner where it was and even if I did manage to kill it, I don’t want some rotting arachnid corpse decomposing my private space!

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!”

An idea strikes as I leave my parent’s room and trudge back down the upstairs hall, catching my neighbour’s house from across the street – showing through the bathroom window, Dad having left the door wide open in the night.

Then I remember my cell phone is downstairs in my school jacket,

“Thank you God!” I whisper happily, almost waltzing down the stairs with Grell’s cotton stitched smile grinning through the twirls.

I can’t help but check every inch of the walls as I make my way towards the living room; you don’t know how fast these things can move so I thought it was best to make sure it hadn’t followed me down here.

Because you never know . . .

I let a shiver invade my spine as I enter the living room, scanning the area wildly as I try to remember where the hell I’d thrown my things after school last night.

I scratch the back of my head as my memory continues to fail me, eventually locating my belongings in a crumpled heap beside the armchair; I certainly don’t remember how they’d gotten there.

Once I find my phone among the crumpled bus tickets and handfuls of change hidden in my jacket pockets, I set about dialling the one number I know I can trust, sneaking a peak across the street through the living room window to see if there were any signs of life in his house. Stupid, I know, what with it being 2am and all . . .

I let the phone ring and ring and I start to get worried as I count the 13th one . . . growing in number as the seconds tick by,

“Oh come on, Rei, please,” I beg silently, slumping into the armchair with Grell on my lap, my fingers threading through the long woollen strands of his red hair as a sort of comfort.

I can hear crickets chirping outside my house, and I get to like the sound of them when Reita finally answers the phone,

“Whoever you are . . . Fuck. Off,”

“Hey Rei,” I bite my lip, my heart suddenly throbbing – I’d never heard him so disgruntled before.

Well, I guess it was kinda my own doing. Sorta . . .

“Kai?” Rei moans into the receiver, and through the bay window, I see a dim light click on from the front of his house.

I presume it’s his bedroom – I’ve never been inside his house before. At school, he only invites the people who are bike enthusiasts such as himself back to his garage.

Ruki thinks they have a “butt munching” session, whatever that means, and Aoi says “they show each other their junk,” at school.

They both laugh at the joke, but I’ve sat figuring them out for hours and I still don’t get it,

“What the fuck are you doing? Calling me at such an hour . . .” I hear him scowl, and I bring my knees up to my chest, burying my face against Grell’s shoulder.

Maybe calling him wasn’t a good idea . . .

“Kai, you better have a good reason or I’m gonna pummel your little ass in school on Monday,” He presses further, and I soon decide I’m gonna have to ask him if I have any chance of escaping this horrible situation,

“Rei, there’s a spider in my bedroom,” I squeak down the phone.

There’s a pause, and I just about gather a mental picture of Rei’s infuriated expression before I hear him sigh surprisingly softly down the receiver,

“What do you want, a medal?”

“Umm no . . .” I chew on my lip again, twirling a strand of Grell’s hair in my hands, “It’s just . . . I thought . . . Maybe I could –“

“- Kai?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Hurry the fuck up so I can go to sleep,”

“Oh umm,” my cheeks burn and my hands turn damp against Grell’s cushy torso; my inner self scolding me for being such a nervous wreck around him.

And that’s only because Reita is the school’s well known thug material. Everyone knows him for his striking black leather jacket and skinny trousers, his school shirt unbuttoned almost down to his stomach. A cigarette sticks out his lips wherever he goes, and most of the time he wears dark black shades; even in winter.

You make a comment about him and he’ll have you in hospital by lunch.

Not me, though. Perhaps I would have feared him like the other kids; perhaps I could have been one of the kids he makes wet themselves with a simple glance, only I don’t.

Because he saved me once . . .

“Um, I was wondering if I could stay at yours until morning?” I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the dial tone to sound, although a part of me prays that he won’t hang up on me – my fear of spiders and all things creepy crawly made me a complete paranoid wreck. Even he knows that; he saw me that one time I cried because a bumblebee wouldn’t leave me alone . . .

“Let me get this straight,” he starts dully, and I feel a big long lecture coming, “You see a spider in your room? Right?”

“Y-Yes,”

“You then call me up at 2am, when I’m still asleep . . .”

“Umm . . . uh-huh,”

“Just to ask if you can stay over. Because of your fucking _pet problem?!!_ ”

I wince, having to hold the phone a little way away from my ear at his boisterous volume,

“Please, Rei!” I moan, “You don’t know what it’s like – it’s huge and scary! And it’s been sitting there all day and I can’t get rid of it! Besides what if it crawls on me in the middle of the night and it’s _poisonous_?!?! And it’s right up in the corner so I can’t reach it and my parents won’t wake up so I can’t get them to get rid of it!”

“Kai . . . no, you are not staying over,” Reita tells me firmly, despite my desperate list of sorry excuses, “And that’s final,”

“Please Rei,” I whine again, “I can’t sleep . . . I don’t know what to do! You’re the only one who can help me!”

“No, Kai,” Rei says again, firmer again and I’m starting to think he’s fully awake now, “It’s up to you to control your little spider problem. Why not just sleep downstairs on the couch if you’re that bothered?”

I realise I’ve been sucking my thumb for a while, “But I don’t want to . . .”

Rei sighs heavily, and he sounds like he’s talking through his palm next time he speaks, “You’re beyond awkward, you know that?”

There’s something about the way he says it that lets my heart warm inside my chest, Grell almost completely damp in my grasp by now, “So . . . can I stay?”

“Kai, listen –“

“- I have cookies,”

“The fuc-? No!”

My lips scrunch up to the side, wondering if the things Aoi and Ruki talk about at school would have any use here.

To my delight, an idea hits me,

“If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone at school that you and your friends play ‘butt munchies’ in your garage,” I say smugly, although I have no idea if I was using it right. Ruki said it like a mean thing, so I suppose I can use it as some kind of blackmail.

I just can’t stay in this house any longer, not with that big, horrible, creepy, furry, ugly, scary –

“- Kai, what does ‘butt munchies’ mean to you exactly?”

I pause to think, and then shrug to no one except Grell; still smiling in his cotton prison in front of me,

“I dunno,” I reply honestly, “Some kind of breakfast cereal?”

“Oh, Kai . . .” Reita groans,

“I mean it!” I would have stomped my foot if I could, “I’ll tell everyone! Even though I don’t know what it means, I’ll still say it!”

There’s a very long pause on his end, and a glow fills me as I dare to think I’ve won him over.

And most times he can’t resist me,

“Alright,” he mumbles, “Pack your stuff. Sleep on my floor. Out by 8am. Got it?”

I almost squeal, “Oh thank you Rei! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”

“Yeah yeah whatever, now hurry up before I change my mind,”

He hangs up and I race upstairs to pack my overnight things just like he said.

I daren’t go back in my bedroom, knowing I’ll be forever anticipating the right time to go in in case it lands on my head the minute I walk through the door. Instead, I grab some clothes Mum had washed for me earlier in the utility room and empty my school bag of all my notebooks and pens, stuffing the t-shirt, jeans and my toothbrush and toothpaste I’d fetched from the bathroom inside.

I swing the rucksack over my shoulder and stop outside the archway to the kitchen from the hall, wondering if I should leave a note in case Mum and Dad wake up to find me gone. I don’t wanna be on the news as a missing person or anything.

Just to be sure, I scribble a quick message on Mum’s huge wad of sticky notes and attach one to the small calendar on the fridge.

As a last minute thought I also raid the cookie jar; ecstatic to find that Mum still has a few left at the bottom. Usually Dad has devoured them within a couple of days so this time I’m lucky.

It takes me a few more minutes to slip on some shoes, find my house key and lock up the front door before I cross the street to Reita’s house.

I wonder whether or not he had been looking out for me; I don’t want to knock in case his parents hear and I barge in unexpected, telling them of the whole crazy story about me and my unwelcome spider roommate.

The cold night air is chilly, and I pull my grey hoodie tighter around my shoulders, relieved when the hall light flicks on from inside and I hear the front door locks being pulled.

I’m soon faced with the expected but unfriendly face that is Reita; half-naked from the waist up – bearing all the tattoos he often shows off to the girls at school – and a pair of slacks covering his bottom half. Which is strange since I’ve always imagined him as the type to sleep naked. Unless he threw them on for my benefit.

I suddenly realise the temperature has increased in the past few seconds that I’ve spent staring at my tall, older neighbour, his dirty blonde hair a complete mess on top of his head. More like a mound really . . . usually he has it all styled for school.

I blush harder; it looks . . . good on him,

“Well are you gonna come in or freeze your ass off out here?” he mumbles after a while, with a look that tells me he’ll kick me in if he has to,

“O-Oh yeah, s-sorry,”

I shuffle in and find that Reita’s house is surprisingly warm. Surprisingly homely too. The moment I step inside, the entrance hall is covered with family pictures and portraits. I can even pick out Rei’s two older brothers in one of them, both of them wearing black tank tops while little Reita is perched on top of a motorbike between them,

“Oi, stop poking your nose around my stuff,” he scowls next to me, closing the door with a bang that makes me flinch, “You wanna stay here or not?”

I swallow what nervousness I can and turn to face him, hitching my rucksack up a touch, “Well if you kick me out, I’m still gonna tell people about the ‘butt munchies’ thing,”

He glares at me vividly, looking even scarier with the twilight illuminating his eyes like that.

I fear he might punch me so I start climbing the stairs,

“I never imagined you’d live in a house like this,” I whisper, passing yet more photographs with each step, “It’s so pretty and neat and cute,”

Curse my word choice. They certainly didn’t belong in Reita’s dictionary,

“Just hurry up squirt,” he sighs behind me, and I hear him yawn sleepily, “Before I make you sleep next to my snake,”

I freeze in place, Reita’s face planting itself into my back,

“S-S-Snake??” I tremble; I never knew he had a snake!

Reita groans and rubs his forehead, “Oh sorry, is that too much for you? Are you gonna run away from _me_ now as well?”

I can’t help but shake on the spot; snakes are . . . scary.

Oh God, oh God, oh God,

 

*

 

  
“Oh just relax already!” he scowls, giving me a push, “I don’t have a snake. Well, I do, but she’s staying at my bro’s place at the minute,”

“Ah . . . right,” I gulp, my heart slowing at the news. _Oh God . . . thank you . . ._

“Which one is your room?” I whisper quietly, none of the equal pinewood doors lining the landing giving me any clue. I was kinda expecting threatening signs and heavy metal posters outside Reita’s bedroom door so that was something new.

Reita points me to the door at the far end on the right, and I remember the light clicking on earlier at the front of the house when I’d called him.

I sigh; Physics fails me yet again.

I’m almost too scared to step inside; wondering what kind of horrors await me from behind that door. It’s unbearable enough to see what comes out of his locker let alone his bedroom . . .

Maybe I didn’t think this through clearly. With Reita’s reputation, there would be twice as many spiders more likely hiding in his room than in _mine,_

“What’s with you all of a sudden?” he glowers behind my shoulder, making me startle at his tone, “You’ve been acting weird ever since you got here,”

He leans over me to turn the door handle; of which my own hand had failed to do thanks to the weakness in my knees.

It didn’t exactly help that he was still bare-chested . . . and pressing into my back . . .

The minute that door cracks open I’m straight in there, almost falling over my own feet and it’s then I realise how _huge_ his room is!!

It was almost twice the size of mine; striking red wallpaper and a soft cream carpet more decorative than I’d imagined. And it even looked bigger despite the fact there was a drum kit, guitar and two bass guitars lined up in one corner. There was still room for a desk and a single bed; and not only that but he had a TV, a PlayStation and a DVD player with two beanbags stashed in front!

He catches me gawping, “Well now I know why that spider was in your room,” he smirks a touch, and I remove my rucksack, slumping it on the carpet,

“W-Why?” I stammer, calm beyond reachable at this rate as I felt the nervousness of being in this man’s presence _alone_ . . .

I’d heard from some guys in the year above me that the last time Reita had been alone with a kid my age; he gave him a wedgie so tight that doctors struggled to remove the underwear from his . . . well, you get the picture.

I curse myself for remembering the story at such an inconvenient time, and my knees begin to wobble under me,

“You gawp too much,” he tells me, flopping down on his unmade bed and pillowing his arms underneath his head, “It’s like you’re catching flies. And spiders like flies you know,”

I don’t really know what to do, so I stay standing. You need to ask permission from a guy like Reita to even breathe around him let alone invade his personal space,

“Kai?” he asks, giving me an estranged look from his position on the bed, “It was a joke. Get it?”

I re-run the conversation in my head. Spiders flock to me because I have my mouth open?

I shudder and Reita frowns,

“Ah forget it,” he sits up and starts tucking the quilt around him, “Come on. Make yourself comfortable already so I can turn the light off. Thanks to you I’m gonna look like the waking dead tomorrow morning,”

I shrug and start unzipping my rucksack, lifting out the sleeping bag I’d picked up when searching the utility room for my clothes.

I can feel him watching me as I struggle to find a suitable spot to roll it out. I don’t want to end up near the door. Then again, sleeping next to his drum kit wouldn’t be a good idea either; I’ve been told I’m accident prone in bed,

“Kai, for God’s sake . . .” Reita groans after a while, rubbing his eyes with his hand, “Just get on with it. Are you purposely trying to kill me?!”

“Oh n-no not at all,” I figure the drum kit is my best bet, and I spread it out as close to Reita’s bed as I can, distancing myself from all of his instruments. If anything happened to them because of me, no doubt I’d be headless by midday tomorrow.

I can’t help but feel self conscious when I settle in and start to remove my hoodie, Reita’s dark eyes fixed on me even still as I wrestle with the zip, getting stuck halfway down,

“Are you _this_ useless?” he sighs, slipping down from the bed and onto his knees beside me, shooing my hands away to tug at it himself, proving successful when he wrenches it loose and I can remove it with ease,

“Th-Thanknyou,” I mumble, my cheeks once again growing hot as he pats my shoulder sleepily, “Sorry . . .”

In fact, I get so shaky that I think about taking Grell out of my rucksack and having him next to me once Reita turns the light off. No doubt I’d be teased for eternity if he caught me cuddling a teddy.

The carpet’s a bit harder than I first anticipated and I find myself squirming as I squeeze inside the sleeping bag and start zipping it up around me. It’s quite cold too.

I start to think I’ve brought the wrong sleeping bag – we have two types; one for summer and one for winter. The summer ones are a lot thinner than the winter ones and . . .

Well it’s a cold night, and it’s just my luck that I end up picking the summer type.

_Christ, Kai, could you be anymore stupid???_

It seems Reita picks up on my thinking face, and he taps my feet under the sleeping bag with his own,

“Hey,” he calls, “You done spacing out or would you like three or four minutes?”

I stare bewildered before quickly shaking my head,

“N-No, I’m fine, thank you. I’m ready now,”

I guess I’ll just have to grin and bear it,

“Thank fuck,” I hear Reita mumble, flicking the light off before I hear the dreary creak of his own bed once he flops onto it. In fact I think he dove on it,

“Goodnight Reita,” I say softly, turning on my side to try and get comfortable, hearing him mumble a sleepy reply towards his bedroom wall.

Shit, this carpet is so Goddamn hard!!!

I don’t know how long I’m awake, but I don’t think it’s very long since Reita soon starts to notice my avid habit of shuffling every two seconds, scaring the life out of me when he taps my shoulder,

“Kai, what are you doing _now_?”

I must be testing his patience to the limit, the words almost being spat at me,

“Sorry,” I mumble, “Just trying to get comfy,”

“Well get comfy a little _quieter_ please,”

“Sure,”

I sigh as he lies down again and I finally settle on lying on my back; staring up at Reita’s ceiling I find the heavy metal posters I expected to find here after all.

There are a few bands I know; usually either Ruki or Aoi talk about them a lot during lunch break and there are plenty more of which I haven’t even heard of.

But there’s one in particular that scares me.

Because hovering just above my head was in fact . . . a werewolf. I couldn’t see the band name as the print was too small but . . . it had sharp teeth and dark yellow eyes, blood dripping from its paws.

_Holy crap . . ._

Don’t look at it, I tell myself the same thing over and over again; and pretty soon I take myself back to Ruki’s words,

_I have balls, not boobs. Balls, not boobs. Balls, not boobs. Don’t look at it . . . Holy shit it’s gonna eat me!!_

I try closing my eyes but when an image of the wolf flashes through my mind and I imagine a snarl, I instantly jolt awake.

I start to wonder whether I should have just slept with the fucking spider . . .

_I have balls . . . I have balls . . . not boobs. Girls have boobs. I’m not a girl . . . Not a girl!_

“I have balls and not boobs!” I say proudly, and even though it’s too late to take back what I said, I clap a hand over my mouth just as Reita shuffles in his bed.

_Oh God . . . I just said that out loud didn’t I?_

I squeeze my eyes shut; calmly acknowledging the fact that last night was probably going to be the last time my parents ever saw me alive.

Something tells me I should have written a longer sticky note . . .

“Kai, this must be the millionth time I have asked you this,” Reita’s leaning over me again from the bed, I can see his figure through the moonlight provided through the large bedroom window, “But what . . . _the hell_ . . . are you doing?”

I rack my brains for a logical answer; although at the minute my brain’s just as scared as I am. Instead all I can picture is a doctor’s surgery removing the giant wad of underwear from my ass,

“Must have been dreaming!” I shrug, fake laughing my way out of the situation, although whether or not it worked was going to be different altogether.

I see Reita hang his head, running his hands through the ruffled strands of his blonde hair, “I swear to God, Kai, _one_ more spot of trouble and I’m kicking you out of here! Do you understand?”

I swallow, probably about to get a kick in the nuts for this, but I have to remind him,

“Well if you do, don’t forget about the ‘butt munchies’ thing,” I scowl, huffing for good measure and turning away from him, landing against the sleeping bag with a hard thump. Something I inwardly curse myself for,

“And I can’t sleep anyway!” I hiss, the fatigue taking over me at long last; and I realise just how pissed I am for not getting a decent night’s sleep, “It’s like sleeping on a rock down here you know! And that poster on your ceiling is so fricking scary! I can’t relax with it staring at me like that!”

I breathe out heavily, and I hear nothing from the other, and though that’s reassuring to some extent; there’s always the chance he’s waiting for me to turn around again.

So he can beat the hell out of me.

The minutes tick by and I silently pray he’s just ignored me and gone back to sleep.

When he sighs however, I find myself repeating the phrase, “Please don’t punch me,” over and over in my head,

“If it bothers you that much, why not just sleep up here?”

I have to take a step back,

“E-Excuse m- What?” I turn to him and stare; he _did_ say that right? He hasn’t punched me already and I’ve fallen unconscious and imagining this, am I?

“If it’ll make you shut up, Kai, sleep up here,” he pats the bed beside him, even shuffling over to make room and I take a moment to stare before hurrying along and sliding in; I don’t wanna annoy him and then miss the chance.

It feels weird lying side by side with him, but when my head meets that pillow.

_Oh sweet comfort . . ._

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask him shyly, blushing as I twirl a section of the duvet in my hands, the warmth his body had generated beforehand surrounding me blissfully. His scent fills my nose and I find it’s a delightful combination of aftershave and a faint scent of petrol.

Beside me, Reita shrugs, “I dunno. You tell me,”

“Well it’s just that you’re always so mean to the other kids at school,” I tell him honestly, although I wonder whether I’m the only one who’s ever really seen the true side to him. The _other_ Reita.

After that one incident all those months back,

“Well you’re not like the ‘other kids at school’,” he smiles, the first genuine one I’ve actually seen of him and, it’s actually a very handsome smile.

_Very_ handsome indeed,

“How do you mean?” I ask shyly, unable to look him in the eye, preferring instead to let my gaze linger onto the sheets, “I’m not that special . . .”

Reita says nothing, and after a while lays his hand on mine; once my fingers start to shake against the duvet,

“I-Is it because you saved me that one time?” I blurt out, my heart racing uncontrollably in my chest the more I feel his stare bore into me.

But maybe it isn’t because of his reputation that scares me so. I’ve always had the feeling it was something else. Something else that made me a nervous wreck around him, yet longing his company at the same time.

I’m just not sure what it is . . .

“Maybe,” Reita shrugs, “I couldn’t let them kidnap you now could I?”

He ruffles my fluffy hair with a chuckle, but I stay frowning, licking my lips as I realise we’re still holding hands,

“You could have,” I mumble, “You could have let them take off with me,”

“What makes you say that?”

I look up as he props an elbow up against the pillow, letting his head rest against it.

I’m being put on the spot again, and I wonder if he can see how red my face is through the dark,

“L-Like you always, _always_ tease everyone,” I breathe, “Everyone except the kids your age are scared of you. Oh, actually, I take that back, even Aoi said he’s scared of you even though you were born almost on the same day,”

Crap. I may have just earned Aoi a one way ticket to a prime time wedgie fest,

“Go on . . .” Reita seems curious and I watch his eyes narrow at my words.

Surely he’s known all this before? Has he not stopped to wonder why everyone scuttles out of his way when he walks the halls, or why kids scream in terror if he speaks so much as an, “Excuse me,” to them.

I should never have said anything should I?

“I’m just a pathetic little kid,” I mumble anyway, letting my head slump against the pillow too, “If you’re that mean and scary to everyone why did you show that little bit of compassion for me?”

A pause as Reita thinks a moment, and I wonder if perhaps he did care for me just a little bit.

After all, ever since those men tried to mug me, he gave me his phone number in case I got into trouble again.

He even talked to me at school sometimes, not that he got much chance since I always hid behind Aoi whenever he approached. My friends just assumed I was scared of him as much as everyone else.

Only I wasn’t. At least, I didn’t think so.

With me he let his guard down, or at least that’s what I’ve always thought. The sunglasses came down when he wanted to speak to me, and there was that one time when he offered me a lift home on his motorbike.

And _no one_ even dares look at it, let alone get offered to ride it!

“Alright, I’ll admit it,” he sighed, “I’m not as cold-hearted as people think I am. When I saw you in trouble, I did what anyone else would do, Kai,”

He stares at me, and I swallow the hard lump in my throat, “A-And what was that?”

Rei’s shoulders slouch and his head turns to one side; I know he’s thinking about how stupid I am,

“I _helped_ you, you idiot, what else?” he scoffed, me hanging my head as he laughs at me,

“But there was another reason too, you know,” he sighs after a while, a warm hand coming down to pat my head, “One of them was because you are too fucking adorable,”

I bite my lip; I’m . . . I’m adorable?!?

“And I know all about your little thing for me, Kai, so it’s okay,” Reita chuckles, and I feel ready to explode once he brings his hand down to rest on my shoulder, rubbing it softly,

“Thing?” I blink, “What thing?”

Reita’s head dips, looking at me through half lidded eyes, “Kai, come on . . . you know,”

My lips scrunch to the side; what’s a thing? Does he mean like a present?

_“Your little thing for me . . .”_

“Oh! I know!” I whisper excitedly, turning around to hop out of the bed, padding over to my rucksack and digging a hand inside,

“Here!” I climb back into bed, handing Reita the wad of tissue paper tied up with string, “You mean these right?”

Reita looks concerned but curious as he unties the knot and unravels the paper, looking even more confused when he sees the cookies I’d piled inside earlier,

“Cookies?” he frowns, holding one up and examining it in the light,

“Yup!” I smile, “I told you I’d bring them!”

To my despair he sighs deeply, wrapping up the cookies again half-heartedly, leaning over me to place it on the top of his large CD rack at the side of the bed,

“Not that, Kai,” he moans lowly, rubbing a hand over his face.

I wait for him to finish, even though I’m still left confused, “But Rei, you said I had a thing for you. And I brought these cookies over to say thank you so . . . I just assumed that was the thing!”

Reita’s shoulders shake and I suddenly panic.

What other thing could he possibly be talking about? I haven’t borrowed anything from him and not returned it have I?

My face must have paled because Reita scolds me for it,

“Oh Kai, don’t get worked up about it,” he teases, poking me lightly in my stomach underneath the sheets,

“What I meant is . . .” he nibbles his lip in thought, as though he’s struggling to come up with the words.

No matter how genuine he sounds, I’m still shaking like a leaf against the bed; I’m almost surprised the springs don’t acknowledge it and rumble the bed too,

“Ah, how should I put it?” he rubs his chin, and I wish I had Grell up here with me right now, wanting something to hold onto as I start to feel dizzy,

“Alright,” Reita leans forward with his hands clasped together, moving so quickly I almost yelp, “When I meant ‘you have a thing for me’ I was talking about you . . . liking me,”

I can only stare . . .

“Liking, Kai?” Reita looks at me with wide eyes, trying to make me understand, “As in you have a crush on me?”

“EHHHH?!??!?”

I flinch away from him, “A crush? A-A _crush_ on you?! No! Dear God, no! Whatever anyone’s told you, ignore them please! I-It’s all a silly rumour, please don’t punch me . . . Rei, please don’t punch me!”

I must look like an idiot, pulling the covers over my face so he can’t see me but I don’t care. Even as he tries to tug them away, I’m squealing like a girl under the duvet, shouting apologies at him over and over,

“Kai, will you quit it already!” Reita scowls, and I wince at his tone, knowing I’ve only maddened him further, “I’m not going to fucking punch you, just come here already will you?!”

He pries the sheets off of me eventually, but I still sit in a curled up ball, hiding my face in my hands,

“I don’t have a crush on you . . .” I moan quietly, almost feeling like crying,

“Now we know _that’s_ a load of bull,” Reita murmurs by my side, settling the quilt back over our shoulders again, “Kai, I’ve seen the way you act around me. Who runs away every time I call your name hm?”

I pause to think, “M-Me . . .”

“Right,” he breathes out through his nose, “And who blushes every time I touch you?”

“M-Me . . .”

“And who walks timidly behind me as we walk home from school?”

“Me . . .”

“And who do I see staring at me almost every lunch break?”

“Me . . .”

“And who, despite everyone he could have called, called me instead when he was scared of the spider in his room and wanted to spend the night?”

I sigh, “Me . . .”

“Well then,”

I tentatively lift my head out of my arms, looking up at him through watery eyes,

“B-But I’ve never even known that I . . .” I blush violently again, “I mean, wouldn’t it damage your reputation?”

Reita smiles gently, “Well maybe I don’t care what other people think. Maybe I’ll threaten to take out their spleen if they even _think_ they have a problem,”

I flinch at the thought, “B-But I didn’t even know that I liked you,” my eyes swivel down to my hands, my fingers twisting over each other again, “I mean, like, in that way . . .”

“Would you like to find out?”

My heart wrenches itself in my throat, and I struggle to form words properly, stuttering unknown syllables that he doesn’t bother to try and decipher,

“Come here,” he mutters lowly, leaning over me as I sink my head back against the pillow, almost in fear.

It’s an act. He’s going to punch me . . .

I screw my eyes up, waiting for the fist to connect against my cheek. Waiting for the kick that sends me sprawling to the ground; the roar that tells me to get the hell out of this house and never come back.

Come Monday morning I’ll be the next horror story of the school . . . another kid pummelled under the hands of Reita.

I tense as I feel his long fringe tickle my forehead, feel one of his hands cup my neck.

And then something nudges against my lips.

My eye cracks open a touch and I’m met with Reita’s face right up close to my own, his eyes closed as the thing that’s touching my lips moves again.

And then I realise he’s . . . in fact . . . kissing me.

I gasp lightly, and I feel him kiss me harder, my head sinking further into the pillow the more he pushes me against it.

Oh God this feels . . . this feels . . .

Fucking wonderful.

I don’t know how to kiss properly but I’ve seen plenty of people do it on TV, my hand holding onto his shoulder as I force my lips to move back. The shivers I feel are incredible and when Reita moans lowly above me, I wonder if I’ve done it right.

Before I know it, we’ve stopped, and Reita stays hovering over me, smiling gently as I touch my lips with a shaky finger, still feeling his touch against my own . . . how tender he was,

“How was that?” he smiles, but I’m still lost in the euphoria for a moment, blinking and waiting for my heart to slow back to normality again; although when he bites his lip in an arousing fashion, that becomes almost impossible.

_I do have a crush on him . . ._

“C-Can we do that again?” I manage to breathe, my voice sounding light and drowsy for some reason, and I frown when he shakes his head,

“No, come on, you have to sleep,” he tells me firmly, although he pulls me into his arms once he settles under the covers again, “Out of the house by 8am remember?”

I nod and let my heart warm as he wraps his arms around me firmly, his chest so smooth against my cheek and I feel a pulsating rush fill me from head to toe,

“Rei?” I ask after a while, earning a sleepy sigh from him in return,

“What is it _now_ , Kai?” he mumbles, adjusting his head against my own,

“What _is_ a butt munchie?”

He chuckles into my hair,

“One day, when you’re older and legally allowed, I’ll show you,”

I smile and snuggle into him deeper;

Then I can’t wait to find out. 

*

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Another cross-posted from my LiveJournal ^^ Probably one of my fluffiest fics to date (in my opinion :3) Please enjoy <3
> 
> This made me laugh while writing this. Kai's supposed to be 16 years old, and Rei about 18, but Kai has a very dippy, cute personality here so it may seem like he's younger xD. Hope it makes you smile at least~~ <3


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